


We Fell In Love In October

by hunnywrites



Series: Days of Thunder [4]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-17
Updated: 2019-10-31
Packaged: 2020-12-21 08:27:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,429
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21071906
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hunnywrites/pseuds/hunnywrites
Summary: Billy and Teddi celebrate Halloween in 1986.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is probably just going to be one or two chapters. I was inspired by a scene from Buffy the Vampire Slayer when Buffy says "I was just thinking of the life of a pumpkin. Grow up in the sun, happily entwined with others…and then someone comes along, cuts you open, and rips your guts out.". There’s technically a spoiler for the end of Arcade Dreams in this series, but unless you really, really look for it you won’t get spoiled. Also, if you’re wondering about Tina’s Halloween party, I wrote about it in the Chasing Yesterday series. Enjoy!

“Listen, kid, it’s not my problem that you came in  _ two days _ before Halloween looking for Friday the 13th. We don’t  _ have _ it. I don’t care if you’re being Jason for Halloween.” Steve Harrington was leaning across the counter of Hawkins Family Video, glaring down at a ten year old that had come in demanding the first three Friday the 13th movies. 

Teddi was hovering awkwardly by the register. Technically her shift had ended three minutes ago. She was waiting for Billy to come pick her up. But it was a little hard to watch Steve go toe to toe with the kid. “Uh, Steve? You need some help?” she asked carefully.

Steve held his hand up. “No, Teddi. I got this. Look kid, either you pick something else out, or you can go home and watch Charlie Brown and the Great Pumpkin with your mom. I don’t really care!  _ Now _ . Would you like to see our selection of horror movies?” he asked, looking down at the boy with an expectant look. Teddi tried her best not to laugh as the kid followed Steve to the back of the store, glowering up at the back of his head. Having Steve and Robin working with her at the video store and the arcade had definitely made things more entertaining. 

The familiar rumble of the Camaro’s engine filled the parking lot outside. Teddi turned to the door, watching Billy saunter across the lot and inside. His usual, casual smirk appeared on his lips when he spotted Teddi. He leaned in to kiss her, running his fingers through her hair and pulling out a piece of cobweb. He looked at it with a raised eyebrow. “Been grave robbing, Weird Girl?” he asked.

Teddi smiled sheepishly. “Nothing that glamourous,” she joked. “I was decorating the store and over at the arcade.” she pointed at the front windows. Teddi had strung up spiderwebs, paper mache ghosts and some purple blinking lights in the video store’s windows. There were little light up pumpkins scattered throughout the store, and little shiny, plastic bats hanging from the ceiling tiles. Next to the register there was a giant cauldron filled with candy. “Can you believe I get paid to do this stuff?” 

“Not at all,” he teased. “You ready to get out of here?” 

“And start the Halloween festivities?” Teddi asked, bouncing on the balls of her feet and grinning widely. She had the next two days off, and she had made Billy promise that they would try and fit in as much Hallloween fun as possible. It had been surprisingly easy to get him to agree, but then Halloween had always been their favorite holiday. 

“Yeah, yeah. Halloween festivities. Are you sure you’re set on  _ everything _ ?” he asked, wincing a little. Teddi only looked at him. “...That’s what I figured,” he sighed. “So what’s first then?” 

Teddi thought for a moment, quickly running through the list of things she wanted to accomplish. “Apple cider,” she finally decided. “Come on,” she squeaked, taking Billy by the hand. “Bye, Steve!” she called over her shoulder.

“Later, Harrington!” Billy threw up his hand in a short wave. Steve was still in the horror movie section with the angry ten year old. He gave them both a sarcastic smile, flipping them off as they hurried out of the video store. Teddi hurried past the Camaro and down the sidewalk. “Hey, wait my car-” Billy complained.

“It’s  _ right _ there, Billy. You can walk.” Teddi argued, nearly dragging him across the street and to the small coffee shop that was on Hawkins’ main street. Hawkins was decorated for Halloween as well. There was a scarecrow sitting in the large lawn that sat in front of Town Hall. He was surrounded by bales of hay and uncarved pumpkins. The lamp posts had bright orange flags hanging off of them with a happy jack-o-lantern telling the people of Hawkins to come to the big Halloween bash in two days. The store fronts were decorated much like Teddi had decorated the video store and arcade. Paper ghosts, pumpkins, bats and Frankensteins greeted customers that walked past. There was a cold bite to the air, but just enough that Teddi could stand. The orange and red leaves crunched under her boots with each step. She  _ loved _ the fall. 

Teddi’s fingers linked with Billy’s as they headed inside the coffee shop and ordered them each a hot apple cider. “Jesus, I haven’t had this stuff since I was a kid.” he mumbled after taking a slow sip. 

Teddi blew on her own to help cool it off and pulled a face. “How is that even possible?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know. My mom used to take me to these farmer’s markets when I was a kid. Can you really picture Neil going to get apple cider and picking out pumpkins?” he let out a chuckle at the idea. Teddi definitely couldn’t imagine anything like that. Teddi couldn’t imagine Neil doing  _ anything _ fun. 

Billy had started to speak about his mom more and more ever since the incident at the Starcourt mall over a year ago. Teddi appreciated him being open, but she knew it was hard for him. “...Are you gonna be okay with all this? We can always just go home and watch some scary movies.” she said carefully. 

They made it back to the Camaro, and the pair slipped inside. “I’m fine...just no corn mazes. I draw the line at corn mazes.” he leaned across Teddi and popped the glove compartment open. He grabbed a small, metal flask and poured some of the contents into his apple cider.

“...Are you spiking your apple cider? Right in front of me?” Teddi asked with raised eyebrows.

Billy paused for a moment, looking at her unsurely before slowly handing his flask over. Teddi poured some of the whiskey into her own cup with a pleased look. “So what’s on the agenda now?” he asked.

“We’re gonna go pick out some pumpkins, pick up a pizza and have a movie marathon.” she grinned. “I’ve carefully curated a stack of movies back at home.” 

“You ever think of just going with the flow?” Billy asked with a teasing grin.

“Excuse me,” Teddi scoffed. “I go with the flow all the time. We are going to  _ casually _ watch the stack of movies I’ve picked out and  _ casually _ carve pumpkins and we’re  _ casually _ gonna have loads of fun.”

Billy only laughed and shook his head. “Whatever you say, Weird Girl,”

There was a pumpkin patch just on the edge of town. On the drive over Teddi traded her Family Video shirt for a fuzzy, light blue sweater. She shot Billy a stern look every time she caught him looking at her and not the road while she changed. Once they made it to the pumpkin patch, Billy groaned when he saw the amount of people milling around looking for their pumpkins to carve. Teddi of course didn’t seem to mind. Billy followed along behind her, lighting a cigarette before shoving his hands into the pockets of his jean jacket. “...What exactly is it we’re looking for?” he asked carefully. Teddi bent over at nearly every pumpkin, giving them a small knock on the side before turning it to see the whole pumpkin.

“We need big ones. And they have to be thick. Otherwise it can break easily when you’re carving.” she explained as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. 

“And when did you become such a pumpkin carving expert?”

She paused a little, like she was deciding if she wanted to give an honest answer. “...Back in New York, my friends and I would carve pumpkins and then go smash them on people’s porches.” she mumbled. Just when he thought Teddi couldn’t surprise him again, she’d pull out a story like that.

“Jesus, Larsson. You were a delinquent.” he laughed.

Teddi stuck her tongue out at him and picked up a pumpkin. “At least I never set a cat corpse on fire.” she said cooly, knocking on the pumpkin. 

Billy scoffed, the toe of his boot kicking at the grass. He blew out a puff of smoke in her direction. “That was _ one _ time. And I’m gonna kill Max for telling you that story. How come we didn’t bring her along for this anyways? Don’t kids like this kinda stuff?” 

Teddi set her pumpkin down and shrugged. “I asked. She said carving pumpkins isn’t cool apparently. And I think she’d rather spend time with Lucas,” she said with a small laugh. 

Billy groaned. Teddi had helped hide Max and Lucas’ relationship from him for nearly a year. Billy had walked in on the two of them kissing and he’d nearly had an aneurysm. Lucas hadn’t been allowed over for about two weeks after until Teddi talked Billy out of it. 

“This one!” she exclaimed, holding up a large, round pumpkin. “I’m picking this one. Now we have to find one for you. See any you like?”

Billy blew out an irritated puff of smoke and surveyed the pumpkins around him. He jabbed his finger at freakishly large, lumpy pumkin. “How ‘bout that one?” Teddi only blinked at him. Billy let out a sigh, clamping his cigarette between his lips and picking the pumpkin up. He knocked on it three times. “How’s that sound?” he asked with an expectant look.

Teddi surveyed the pumpkin. “...I know you’re just doing this so we can get out of here, but that’s like a perfect pumpkin. I mean, it’s  _ way _ too heavy to throw onto someone’s porch, but perfect for carving.” 

While Teddi paid for their pumpkins, Billy dutifully carried them back to the car and set them in the back seat. While this definitely wasn’t how  _ he _ would spend their two days off, Billy supposed he was willing to put up with it all once he saw how happy it made Teddi. He even agreed to get pineapple on half of their pizza like she liked. Now they were home. Teddi had run out to their shed and grabbed some tools to carve the pumpkins while Billy laid out some old newspapers on the livingroom floor. 

Teddi walked back in, tossing a pack of thumb tacks and two pencils onto the newspapers along with the other tools. Billy raised his eyebrows. “The hell’s this for?” he asked.

She shot him a look as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. “The pencils are so we can draw out our design first. And then you use the thumb tack to poke these little holes along the outline so it’s easier to carve.” she explained.

Billy watched her as she crawled over to their tv, picking up a copy of Halloween and sticking the tape into the vcr player. “...Where did you learn all of this?” he asked. Teddi turned to him with a frown. “I mean, smashing them on people’s porches, yeah. But where did you learn all of  _ this _ ?” he asked, motioning to all of her pumpkin carving supplies.

Teddi had an almost guilty look as she began drawing a face on her pumpkin. “...My dad,” she finally confessed. Billy didn’t say anything. He was a little too surprised to think of how to respond. “It was after he got his new fancy job, back in New York. Things were bad before, but when he got his promotion he was...nice. I mean, for him. For awhile. They never wanted to take me trick or treating or anything like that, but he taught me how to carve pumpkins when I was little...I don’t know,” she shrugged. “It’s like...the one happy memory I have of him I guess.”

Billy realized how utterly  _ depressing _ it was that they both loved Halloween so much. It had just been a way for them to cling to the few happy memories from their childhoods. And it was obvious that she felt guilty for having  _ any _ happy memories with her complete asshole of a father. Now he felt like a dick for not being more enthusiastic about the whole thing. Billy didn’t say anything. He just picked up his pencil and started to draw what he thought looked like a scary face. “...You want me to take you trick or treating?” he asked.

Teddi cracked a smile. “Thanks, but I think I’m a little too old now.” she joked. They fell into a comfortable silence while they scooped the insides of their pumpkins out and emptied them out into a bowl. Billy took his eyes momentarily off of the movie and looked over to Teddi. She was off in her own world, absently playing with the pumpkin guts.

Billy stopped carving his pumpkin and looked at her with a raised eyebrow. “...You okay there, Ted?”

“Hmm? Oh, yeah.... _ I was just thinking of the life of a pumpkin. Grow up in the sun, happily entwined with others...and then someone comes along, cuts you open, and rips your guts out. _ ” she sighed. 

Billy only blinked at her. Great. Now Teddi was depressed. “You uh...you’re kinda bumming me out here, Weird Girl.” he said carefully. 

As if he had said some magic words to snap her out of her stupor, Teddi shook her head wildly. “Whoa.  _ Sorry _ .” she let out an embarrassed laugh. 

“I thought the whole point of all this was to have  _ fun _ ?” Billy said, carving one of the eyes out of his pumpkin and discarding it in the bowl. “Y’know, think of all the fun stuff about Halloween? Remember when we got wasted at Tina’s Halloween party a few years back? You thought my name was Bobby?” he grinned over at Teddi, who’s cheeks had turned a lovely shade of pink at the memory. “You still have that Alice costume?”

Teddi flicked a pumpkin seed at him. “ _ Ass _ .” she scrunched up her nose, unable to hide her smile as Billy let out a laugh. He was right. All of this was so that they could make new, happy memories  _ together _ . Not sit around and mope over pumpkins. 

Billy surveyed his jack-o-lantern, turning it towards Teddi with a proud look. “What do ya think? Scary enough for trick or treaters?” he asked. His jack-o-lantern had big, angry slanted eyes and a row of countless pointed, fang like teeth. Somehow it was exactly what Teddi had expected from him. 

“Very scary,” she agreed with a nod. Hers was a bit more of the traditional jack-o-lantern. With its happy, triangle shaped eyes, matching triangle nose and crooked, square teeth. She sat hers next to Billy’s and let out a small laugh. “They make quite the pair, huh?”

Teddi hopped up to her feet and disappeared into the kitchen before shortly returning with two tea light candles and a lighter. “Come on, come on. Let’s take them to the porch.” she scooped up her pumpkin and hurried out into the brisk fall night. Billy and Teddi sat their pumpkins side by side, Teddi dropping a candle down into each of them and lighting them. Teddi took Billy’s hand in hers, walking down a little ways down their driveway before stopping.

“What do you think?” she asked quietly. Like if she spoke too loudly it might ruin the moment. 

“...Spooky.” Billy said with a teasing grin. Teddi let out a soft snort and rested her head on his shoulder. They stood there in a comfortable silence, looking up at the porch of their little house, lit up with an eerie, orange glow from their jack-o-lanterns. Two years ago Billy hadn’t even known who Teddi was (unless you count the incident at Tina’s Halloween party). Then a year later they had purchased their first home after learning about the horrors of the Upside Down and defeating the Mind Flayer. Billy had always loved Halloween because of the horror movies, scaring trick or treaters and seeing girls in their tiny little costumes. Now he realized he loved it for different reasons. 

Billy placed a small kiss on the top of Teddi’s head. “What’s next on the carefully curated playlist, Larsson?” 

“Evil Dead,” she replied simply. “I was thinking we could go see Sorority House Massacre tomorrow.”

Billy smirked. “ _ Sorority _ ?” he asked. “Count me in.”

Teddi shoved him playfully. “Just get back in the house,  _ perv _ ,” she let out a loud squeal when Billy picked her up and threw her over his shoulder. She couldn’t hold in her laughter as she tried to squirm out of his grip. “Put me down you asshole.” she laughed. 

“Not until you stop calling me names.” he playfully scolded. 

“I don’t know if that’s possi- ow!” she fell into a fit of giggles after Billy reached up and smacked her firmly on the ass. “Okay, okay! I’ll be nice,” she surrendered. Billy set her down once they made it back to the porch and she gave him another playful shove. “How about you go put the next movie in and I’ll make us some spiked hot chocolate?” she wriggled her eyebrows. 

“Are you trying to get me drunk, Larsson?”

“Maybe. Maybe I can go put on that alice costume and we can have a replay of Tina’s party?” she leaned in the doorway, smirking up at Billy. 

Billy let out a groan and followed her inside. “I gotta agree with pumpkin carving more often.”


	2. Part Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One chapter left! I’m officially dedicating this series to the guy in front of me in line at Horror Nights the other night that had a mullet, was chewing on a toothpick and telling his girlfriend how weird she was for being so scared to go into the haunted houses. Being stuck behind those two through the Us house was something special. He scared her more than any of the actors. So this is for you, real life Billy Hargrove. Even if you were wearing crocs.

It was late when Billy and Teddi left the movies the next night. They’d had a bit of a lazy day so far. They woke up around noon and made pancakes for breakfast (technically  _ Billy _ did. He actually knew how to cook while Teddi was still learning not to burn everything). Teddi talked him into driving back into town for more hot apple cider and getting some candy for trick or treaters from Melvald’s before the movie It was still a weird feeling to step into the little convenience store and not see Joyce Byers. Teddi tried not to think about it. 

It had been an entire year now since the Byers’ and El had moved out of Hawkins. While most things had gone back to normal (or as normal as things  _ could  _ be in Hawkins), thinking about all of the people who weren’t around anymore made Teddi’s heart ache. She missed El, Will and Joyce. Even Johnathan. 

Now Billy had his arm thrown around Teddi’s shoulders as they made their way through the main lobby. The teens working there were closing the snack bar down for the night. “I think that’s probably the worst movie you’ve ever made me watch, Larsson. And you’ve shown me some shit storms.” Billy tossed his now empty bucket of popcorn away before opening the door for Teddi. 

It  _ had _ been a really bad movie. So bad Teddi was a little surprised it had even made it to theaters and not gone straight to video. “...At least you got to see the girls topless a few times.” she offered with a small, sheepish smile as the pair made their way to the Camaro. Teddi pulled Billy’s denim jacket tighter around herself to try and keep warm. 

Billy shot her a look. “Those definitely didn’t look like any sorority chicks I’ve ever seen.” he muttered, sliding into the driver’s seat. 

Teddi rolled her eyes and smiled at him. Leave it to Billy to complain about seeing naked chicks. “The sorority chicks you’ve seen are porn stars playing dress up in Hustler.” she argued. He didn’t say anything. 

“...Whatever. I’m picking the movie next time.” he muttered. That meant they’d be seeing some mindless action movies with lots of explosions. Teddi held in a groan at the idea. The last one hadn’t been  _ so _ bad, but that was only because Kurt Russell had been in it. 

TeddI threw her legs over Billy’s lap and let out a loud sigh. “If you insist...wait a second, where are we going?” she asked. Billy was driving in the opposite direction of their little house. Everything in town was closed for the night. And Billy hadn’t mentioned anything about having any other plans after the movies. 

Billy’s hand was resting on Teddi’s leg, his thumb absently rubbing at her ankle. “I just wanted to check something out.” he said cooly. There was a mischievous smirk twitching at his lips that made Teddi’s stomach do a flip. Nothing good ever happened when he got that look. But Teddi would play along for now. At least until she saw how stupid whatever he had planned was. 

Eventually Teddi started to realize that they were headed back to their old neighborhood. Billy turned onto Cherry Road, and Teddi’s face screwed up into a confused frown. She pulled her legs from Billy’s lap, leaning forward as if somehow that would help her figure out what he had planned. He drove past the house he’d lived in with Neil and Susan. Neil’s car was in the driveway and the lights inside were off. Teddi couldn’t stop squirming in her seat. Billy didn’t even glance in the house’s direction as he passed. 

Teddi let out a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding in when the house was no longer in sight. “What’s wrong?” Billy asked. Teddi could hear hear teasing grin. “Don’t wanna visit the in laws?” 

She let out a laugh. “Oh  _ fuck off _ . That’s not funny,” she playfully shoved him. Billy laughed. “And they’re not my  _ in laws _ .” she said, holding up her hand and moving her bare ring finger. At some point they’d jokingly started referring to Neil and Susan as Teddi’s in laws. Mostly because Neil  _ hated _ Teddi and Billy seemed to find it funny. 

Billy reached over and took her hand in his. He playfully bit the knuckle of her ring finger before pressing a kiss to it. They didn’t ever talk about getting married. It was too soon for either of them. While they didn’t see themselves ending up with anyone else, Billy would only be twenty next month and Teddi was still a teenager. They had all the time in the world for things like that. 

“Will you  _ please _ tell me where we’re going?” Teddi asked, beginning to get restless. 

“Will you _ please _ be patient?” he teased. Teddi let out a loud huff and crossed her arms, sinking down in her seat. There was no breaking Billy when he had a surprise planned. In all reality she hadn’t had to wait _ that _ long. Another ten minutes and Billy pulled up into the driveway of a house that looked like it hadn’t been touched in decades. He didn’t give any clue as to why they were there. He only looked over at Teddi, that mischievous smirk back, and shut the Camaro off. 

“Uh...you do know we have our own house to fool around in, right?” she asked, attempting to joke to cover up how confused she was. 

Billy rolled his eyes. “That’s not what this is. Although if you wanna I’m not gonna complain,” he smirked. “I heard about this place from the guys at work. They said this family lived here, back in the 50’s. All of this weird shit started happening after they moved in, I guess. But one night, the oldest brother wakes up, picks up a gun and takes his whole family out. He says the devil made him do it. It’s supposed to be haunted now.” he explained, his voice low. 

Teddi looked at Billy and the up to the large, two story house before them. “Wow...that’s scary,” she said blankly. Billy frowned. “That’s also totally just the Amityville Horror.” 

“Wait, what? The hell is that?” he asked with an annoyed expression.

“It’s a total classic! Have you never seen it?” she didn’t know why she asked. Of course he hadn’t. “It’s based off a true story. The house was like two towns over from where I grew up, but I was always too scared to go see it.” she said with a small laugh.

“...Shit,” Billy muttered. “I was kinda hoping it was true,” Teddi raised an eyebrow. Billy rolled his eyes. “Not that they  _ died, _ but that it was haunted.”

“Are you forgetting what happened the last time you went into an abandoned building?” another question she didn’t need to ask. Neither of them would ever forget what happened to Billy in that steel mill.

Billy gripped the steering wheel and let out an annoyed scoff. “C’mon, Ted. I’ve done all of your Halloween shit. Let’s just check it out. What’s the worst thing that can happen?” Teddi could think of an endless list of horrible things that might happen. But he was right. He’d been a good sport. And it wasn’t like the place was  _ actually _ haunted. She could give it a go. 

“Fine, let’s go ghost hunting, Venkman.” she teased as she slid out of the Camaro.

“Who the hell is Venkman?”

“It’s from Ghostbusters, you nerd.”

“Oh  _ I’m _ the nerd?” Billy asked with a laugh. The pair walked cautiously through the overgrown front lawn and up to the front door. The red paint was cracked and peeling. The tiny windows were so grimy they couldn’t peek through them to see inside. Billy was a little reluctant to touch the rusted over knob. He turned it slowly. It was locked. “Shit. Looks like we’re finding another way in then.” he took a step back from the porch and surveyed the outside of the house for a moment.

Teddi shifted uncomfortably on the porch. The wood was starting to rot. Each plank of wood creaked loudly with every step to the point where Teddi was a little worried she might fall through. “You mean breaking and entering?” she asked. 

“It’s  _ abandoned _ . Me and my friends used to hang out in abandoned spots all the time back in California.” Billy waved her worries away and headed around to the side of the house. Teddi followed behind him. 

“...Didn’t you guys get arrested like four times for trespassing?” 

Billy ignored the question. He shoved one of the windows open, turning back to Teddi with a proud look as he wiped his hands on the back of his pants. “See? It’s unlocked. So technically we’re just  _ entering _ .” he offered.

“I don’t know why I keep letting you talk me into this kinda shit. It’s probably not even haunted.” Teddi muttered. Billy leaned down, linking his fingers together to give her a boost inside. They’d done this so many times over the years it was almost like a muscle memory. 

Billy smirked. “Come on, Weird Girl. I’ve talked you into stuff that’s way more fun than this.” Teddi let out a squeak as his hand met her ass harshly as she crawled through the window. She could feel her cheeks burning. 

“You could have  _ killed _ me,” she said dramatically after she landed inside with a thud. “I could’ve broken my neck or something.” the rest of her teasing lecture was cut off as she turned to take the house in. She regretted coming in. It was still fully furnished. Everything was covered in dust and cobwebs, so much to the point where Teddi had a hard time imagining what anything had looked like when the house had people living in it. It was like whoever had lived there had just run off. Bolted in the middle of the night and never returned. She felt a little chill up her spine. 

She jumped a little when Billy pulled himself inside, his boots landing loudly on the wooden floors. “What’s the matter, Ted?” he asked with a smile. “Scared?” he reached around her, fingers tickling her side.

Teddi slapped his hand away. “ _ No _ . You just startled me is all…” it wasn’t really much of a shock to Billy that Teddi believed in ghosts or that she was easily spooked by them. 

Billy grinned over at his girlfriend, his arms snaking around her waist and pulling him to her. “Come on, Ted. You said it yourself that it’s probably not haunted.” he buried his face in her neck, his breath tickling Teddi’s neck. 

“That was before I got the total Neibolt street vibes from this place. I can’t believe we haven’t gotten eaten by a killer clown yet,” she muttered. Billy let out a chuckle, pulling away from her and linking their fingers together as he pulled her towards the stairs. “Did someone _ actually _ die here?” she asked, unable to keep herself from constantly looking over both shoulders. 

He only shrugged. “How should I know? I bought that Amityville shit. Kinda creepy that everything’s still here though, huh?” that was an understatement. Teddi was scared that they’d stumble across some gruesome, decades old crime scene that hadn’t been cleaned up. Her other hand reached up to grab Billy’s arm as they ascended the stairs. 

There were some framed family photos on the walls upstairs. There were a few knick knacks, photos and a vase that was full of decaying flowers that filled Teddi’s nose with a sweet but sort of musty smell as they passed by. There were cigarette butts and beer cans littering the hallway. They looked relatively new, she realized with a wave of dread. Was someone inside with them right now? Watching them walk the halls? 

“If someone ends up murdering us I’m going to fucking kill you.” Teddi muttered. Billy only laughed. She wasn’t kidding. 

He pulled away from her and headed into one of the rooms. “Look, babe. It’s not that bad. No blood splatters, no headless bodies, just...a lot of fucking dust.” Teddi hated how amusing he found all of this. She felt like she was in a crypt. But Teddi followed after him anyways. It was better to be with Billy and his fucked up sense of humor than out in the hall alone.

“If I say I have asthma, can we go home?” she asked, wriggling her nose at all of the dust and god only knew what else was floating around. 

“Oh, you have asthma now?” he asked with a grin. 

“..Ye- did you hear that?” there was _ definitely _ something downstairs. There was a loud thump, like something had fallen over. And Billy had heard it too. His head snapped back towards the doorway and his expression had gone all serious. It did absolutely nothing to calm her nerves. 

Billy stepped out in front of Teddi, holding his arm out to shield as if he was expecting something to charge at the both of them. “...I’m gonna go check it out. You stay here.” it wasn’t a suggestion. And Teddi didn’t really want to argue, but she also didn’t want to let him go downstairs where some headless ghost was going to kill him.

So she counted to sixty in her head before she followed after him. The house had gone completely silent. She couldn’t hear the heavy footsteps of Billy’s boots on the rotting floorboards. Only her own. Teddi swallowed thickly as she slowly moved through the house looking for her boyfriend. “...Billy?” she called cautiously before stepping into the kitchen. No answer.

The window above the sink was broken. Maybe that had been the noise she had heard? Maybe some kids were breaking in, hoping to see ghosts like Billy? But she was alone. No sign of Billy or any teens. She immediately started to fear for the worst. “Billy this isn’t funny, okay? If you’re hiding can you just come out? Take me home? ..I’ll do one of your gross sex things!” still no answer. Teddi let out a huff. 

Teddi walked out of the kitchen and into what she assumed must have been a sitting room. There was a fireplace big enough for her to stand in, and an old, dusty piano sitting in front of it. Teddi nervously fiddled with two of the piano’s keys, the sharp, out of tune notes sending a chill up her spine. 

There was another thud. And a sound like something was being dragged. Teddi gulped. She shifted from foot to foot. This was definitely a predicament. If she went looking for whatever was making the sound she’d be killed like all of those idiot girls in horror movies. You  _ never _ went after strange noises and you  _ never _ asked who was there. But that dragging sound...what if something had gotten Billy? 

Teddi’s hands clenched into fists at her sides, her shoulders straight and her head held high.  _ Fuck horror movie rules _ , she decided. She headed back to the living room where she and Billy had broken in earlier. She was sure that’s where she’d heard the thud coming from. Out of the corner of her eye she saw movement behind the couch. Something else moved quickly past the doorway. Already she was outnumbered. 

“Bil-” whatever was behind the couch had sprung up, yelling loudly at Teddi. She screamed, instinctively throwing a punch out in front of her. 

“ _ Christ _ , Teddi!” it was Steve Harrington. He was wearing some stupid skeleton mask. Steve groaned loudly, slowly peeling the mask off and grabbing his nose. It was bleeding.

“ _ Steve _ ? What the hell are you doing here?” she spat. Suddenly there was laughter behind her. Teddi whipped around, glaring at Billy and Robin who were both laughing so hard it looked like they could barely keep themselves upright. 

Steve plopped down onto the couch and tilted his head back to try and stop the bleeding. “You said we were gonna scare her,” he whined. “You didn’t say anything about my nose being broken!”

Robin rolled her eyes, making her way over to her best friend and slapping his hands away from his face. She looked at him for a moment before shaking her head. “It’s not broken, drama queen. She just got you good.  _ Nice shot _ , Teddi. I’m glad I didn’t lose rock, paper, scissors.” she clapped Teddi on the shoulder before sitting next to Steve.

“Is someone gonna tell me what the fuck is going on?” Teddi asked, glaring over at Billy. He was still laughing a little bit. 

“Don’t look at me,” Steve said, his voice thick as he pinched his nose shut. “This was all his idea.” he jabbed his thumb in Billy’s direction. She didn’t really need Steve to tell her that. Of course it had been Billy’s idea. 

Billy wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “Come on, Ted. It’s just a little Halloween fun.” he said with a smirk. If looks could kill, Billy would have been dead. 

“I think you’re sleeping on the couch tonight, Goldielocks.” Robin said with a snort. 

Teddi shrugged Billy’s arm off. “Was any of this true? The whole house being haunted thing? Grisly murders? Ghost hunting?”

Steve had finally managed to get his nose to stop bleeding. “What? No. The family that lived here stopped paying their taxes and ditched the place. Kids come here to smoke weed and hook up. I’ve been coming here for like... _ ever _ and I’ve never seen a ghost.” 

“If he had he was probably too stoned to realize.” Robin said as the two broke out into quiet giggles. 

Teddi turned to look at Billy and crossed her arms tightly over her chest. “So you  _ lied _ , drove me all the way out here, and had Steve scare me? For a joke?”

Billy shifted uncomfortably. “...I mean, when you put it like that I sound like a dick.”

“ _ You are. _ ” Steve and Robin both said. 

“Oh, you have no idea what’s coming for you, Hargrove,” Teddi said, jabbing him in the chest. “I’m gonna get you back. And you’re not gonna know when. It can be tomorrow or five years from now-”

“Come on, Teddi, it was a  _ joke _ .” Billy urged. 

Robin groaned. “Let it  _ go _ already. You totally deserve whatever’s coming. Can we go now?” 

“Yeah. Billy promised us beer and horror movies, remember? You were all _ come on, dude, it’ll be fun! We’ll scare her and then we can hang out! _ ” Steve said, mocking Billy’s voice. 

Billy held up his hands. “Yeah, yeah.  _ I remember _ . Just get outta here, alright? We’ll meet you there,” the message was heard loud and clear. Robin and Steve shared a look, pushing themselves up off of the couch and passing by Teddi and Billy. Robin patted Teddi on the shoulder as she went. “Teddi…” Billy started once they were alone. 

Teddi fixed a stern look his way. “I was  _ worried _ . I was down here thinking of all of the horrible things that might have happened to you. I thought something had like eaten you or something!” 

Billy approached her slowly, gently taking her wrists into his hands and pulling her to him. She didn’t fight it, but she didn’t lean into him like he had been hoping. “It was a  _ joke _ ,” he repeated. “C’mon Doll, don’t be pissed at me.” Billy only broke out  _ Doll _ when he was  _ really _ in trouble (which Teddi had to admit really wasn’t very often).

Teddi wrapped her arms around his neck, smiling up at him. “It’s fine. I was just pulling your leg.” 

Billy let out a sigh of relief. “So are we even?”

“Are you kidding?  _ Fuck no _ ,” Billy groaned. “You know, I don’t know what I’m more offended by. You planning all of this, or the fact that you didn’t ask me to scare Steve instead.” 

Billy scratched the back of his neck. “...I guess I thought you’d think it was funny.” he admitted. 

“I mean...it  _ was _ , I guess. But if you do it again I’m dumping your ass.” 

He let out a small chuckle and nodded. “Deal...and we can still scare the shit out of Harrington tonight if you want. He’s on our turf.”

Teddi let out a snort. “I’ll think about it. Let’s go, West Side Story. I wanna get out of this dump.” she took Billy by the hand and pulled him towards the front door. 

“Hey, wait. Were you serious about the sex stuff earlier?”

“ _ In your dreams, Hargrove. _ ” 


	3. Part Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Halloween everyone! The end of the mini series is here! This was a bit more fluffy than I had intended, but is that really a bad thing? Hope you enjoy!

“Will you quit unbuttoning your shirt?” Teddi asked with a huff. “He doesn’t have it unbuttoned in the movie, Billy.” She reached forward and buttoned up the remaining buttons on Billy’s dark blue plaid shirt. Billy was pouting down at her.

“If I button them all I look like a fucking dork,” He argued. He turned to look at himself in the full length mirror that sat in their bedroom, adjusting his red jacket with a frown. 

Teddi had gone to goodwill once a week for the last two months until she finally found all of the pieces for their costumes. Billy had finally caved and agreed to be Jack and Wendy Torrence from The Shining. Considering the incident with the mindflayer had made Billy go full Overlook, Teddi thought it would be a funny choice (plus, she had actually hit him with a baseball bat). 

Billy and Teddi stood side by side, looking back at their reflections. They looked older, Teddi realized. Like somehow they were peering into their futures. “...We look like we should own a farm.” Billy muttered.

Teddi let out a snort, softly elbowing him in the side. “We’d make pretty hot farmers.” she joked.

“Obviously.” the doorbell rang. Teddi hurried out to the front door, and Billy could hear her greeting all of the trick or treaters and complimenting each of their costumes as she handed out candy. Billy picked up his flask, stashing it in the pocket inside his jacket and heading out to meet her. 

He would have been perfectly happy lounging out on the couch with a stack of horror movies, ordering a pizza and handing out candy. But there was a Halloween festival in town that Teddi had been looking forward to all month. So he agreed to wear the couples costume and pig out on funnel cake and caramel apples. 

Billy didn’t miss the girl with short, golden brown hair dressed as Madonna at the door. He didn’t need to see Teddi’s face to know the girl reminded her of El. The group of kids thanked Teddi and ran off. Teddi shut the door, turning back with a glazed over look in her eyes. She quickly smiled when she saw Billy watching her. 

“You can always call her when you get home, you know.” he said, wrapping an arm around her. 

“I know...maybe. I don’t wanna annoy her,” Billy knew that wasn’t possible. “We should head out before the trick or treaters start to pick up.” she suggested. Maybe it was time for them to take a trip up to visit the Byers. Maybe he could call Joyce and surprise Teddi. Tell her they were going somewhere else entirely. 

The pair headed out to the Camaro and Billy flicked on the radio. He groaned when Teddi’s Halloween mixtape came on, the Monster Mash playing loudly. She giggled beside him, running her fingers through his curls, tucking some behind his ear and laying her head on his shoulder. “It’s  _ one night _ , Hargrove.” she reminded him. 

The Halloween festival was bigger than Billy had been expecting from a town like Hawkins. It reminded him a little of the boardwalk back in San Diego. The janky rides and colorful food stalls. He was hit with a wave of memories. All the dates he’d taken to the boardwalk to make himself look good. He liked to win whatever girl he was taking out that week lots of those cheap stuffed animals to impress her and help seal the deal when it came to fooling around in the back of the Camaro afterwards. He’d be lying if he said it didn’t make him a little homesick. 

“Billy,  _ look _ ,” Teddi said, excitedly grabbing his hand and squeezing it. She was pointing over at a ride called Dante’s Inferno. It was some tacky dark ride that Billy guessed was supposed to be some sort of torture chamber in hell. It had two levels to it, and a large, red demon that grinned down evilly at anyone approaching the ride. “We totally have to go on that. It’s so  _ lame. _ ” she laughed. 

It  _ was _ lame. The car was almost too small for the two of them. It had ratty old green seats and grotesque faces carved into the sides of it. Billy guessed it was enough to probably scare some kids, but it all looked almost comical to him. Teddi linked her arm with his tightly as the car took off with a jolt. Billy looked over at her, smiling at the nervous but somehow still excited expression on her face. 

Billy didn’t really understand much of what they saw inside. There was a track of loud, howling wind and evil laughter playing on loop. Every few feet a generic, “scary” animatronic would light up and go off as they passed. Billy reached over and tickled Teddi on the side a few times, timing it with the animatronic to scare her. She fell for it each time, squealing and jumping before slapping his hands away. “You’re such an  _ asshole _ .” she laughed, trying to squirm away from him. 

They were both laughing as they stumbled away from the ride. Billy slowed to a stop, his eyes narrowing as he looked at the scene in front of him. “...Isn’t that your boss?” he asked, looking over at Teddi. She frowned and looked over. There was Keith standing over by the ticket booth. He was dressed as Jason Voorhees, shifting nervously and looking around as if he were looking for someone. 

“Yeah...huh. I can’t believe he’s he-...oh my god. Is that  _ Cheryl _ ?” she didn’t need to ask. It was  _ definitely  _ Cheryl Burns. She was dressed as the Queen of Hearts. Her strawberry blonde hair was swaying back and forth as she sauntered over to Keith, giving him a seductive smile that Billy was all too familiar with before running her hands up Keith’s chest. 

Billy and Teddi looked over at each other, speechless. “...Am I finally going insane, or does Cheryl Burns have her leg wrapped around Keith and her tongue down his throat?” Teddi asked, blinking wildly.

“Well...to be fair he’s probably the only guy in town that she hasn’t slept with,” he said, attempting to joke. He was way too weirded out to find it funny. “Forget the Mind Flayer, _ that _ is the weirdest thing I’m  _ ever  _ gonna see,” he said with a shudder. “...How come you don’t kiss me like that in public?” 

Teddi let out a loud scoff, rolling her eyes and glaring over at Billy. “Why don’t I kiss you like your ex girlfriend?”

“Technically she was never my girl-” Teddi cut him off by putting her hand over his mouth.

“ _ Please _ don’t finish that sentence.” she groaned.

Billy wrapped his arm around Teddi and pulled her close, burying his face in her neck. “C’mon, Larsson. You’re not allowed to be pissed at me tonight. It’s our anniversary.” he said with a grin.

Teddi raised her eyebrow, trying her best not to smile. “Oh is it?”

“Of course. Two years ago today you fell in love with me at Tina’s Halloween party, remember?” he turned Teddi around to face him, smirking down at her as his hands rested on her lower back. 

Teddi couldn’t fight her smile anymore. She wrapped her arms around Billy’s neck, grinning up at him. “Technically I fell in love with the kissing. It took me a little while to fall in love with the rest of you.” she teased. If you asked Teddi the moment she’d fallen in love with Billy she wouldn’t be able to tell you. It felt like she had woken up one morning and realized she was in love with him. 

“ _ Technicalities _ ,” he scoffed. Billy leaned down to kiss her, his hand weaving its way up through her hair. It was longer than it had been when they met, and it was back to its natural sandy color. Teddi smiled against his lips, pressing herself closer to him.

“Maybe you’re right,” she sighed happily. “God, I hate how charming you can be sometimes.” that was a lie. Teddi linked her fingers with Billy’s pulling him over to the colorful and brightly lit food stalls. The smell of funnel cake batter and powdered sugar was making Teddi’s mouth water. 

“I was thinking...maybe we should go on a road trip,” Billy suggested after they had purchased their dessert. Teddi ripped a chunk of dough that was almost too big for her mouth and ate it. “We’ve been talking about it for awhile.” he reminded her. 

Teddi eyed him carefully while she munched on her funnel cake. “Yeah, but where do you wanna go?”

Billy shrugged, taking a bite for himself. He licked the powdered sugar off his fingers while he thought. “...You let me worry about that part,” he finally said. He’d never been very good at lying to Teddi. The more simple the lie was the better the chance he had at keeping her off his trail. “What do you say, Larsson?”

Teddi didn’t take long to think it over. She didn’t need to. The two of them had been talking about taking a nice, long road trip for over a year. It was long overdue. Time for just the two of them. “Just tell me when,” she said with a shrug and a smile. 

Teddi ended up convincing Billy to go on a few more of the rides. Each one seemed even cheesier than the last. They ate fair food until they nearly got sick, and took turns sneaking drinks from Billy’s flask. Billy won Teddi a small army of those tacky, cheap stuffed animals from the game stalls. On the way back to the car she could barely keep the large pumpkin, dracula, little devil and a genuinely creepy looking teddy bear in her arms. 

“Thanks for going, Billy.” she mumbled sleepily, her head resting on his shoulder. 

“Any time, Weird Girl,” he didn’t think she heard him. Teddi was already asleep, most likely from a sugar crash after all the junk food. Hawkins was pretty quiet. All of the trick or treaters had gone home for the night, and the only people Billy saw out and about where a few costumed adults stumbling out of house parties. 

He pulled into the driveway of their little house, where the pumpkins they had carved were still glowing on the porch and got out of the car. Billy opened Teddi’s door, reaching over her to undo her seatbelt and easily picking her up. All of her prizes fell out of her arms and onto the floor of the Camaro. Except the evil looking teddy bear, Billy noticed with a groan. “C’mon, Larsson. Bed time.” he mumbled, carrying her inside. 

Teddi took a deep breath in as she woke up, squinting as she took in her surroundings. “I gotta make a phone call, okay? You gonna be alright getting yourself in bed?” he asked. She rubbed the backs of her eyes roughly and nodded before he set her down. Billy disappeared into the living room. Teddi was too dazed to hear what he was saying on the phone or wonder who he was talking to. 

She made quick work of changing into her pajamas, leaving her costume in a pile on the floor before crawling back into bed and hugging the bear Billy had won for her close. She was asleep again by the time Billy made his way back into their bedroom. Joyce had picked up on the second ring. Billy could hear Will and El in the background talking animatedly about some movie they were watching. When he told her his plan, Joyce had been all for it. She told him they could stay in Johnathan’s room for as long as they wanted since he was away at school, and she promised to keep it a secret from Teddi. 

If you asked Billy the moment he’d fallen in love with Teddi he wouldn’t be able to tell you. One minute she was driving him up the wall and the next he felt like he’d do anything to keep her happy...she still could drive him up the wall. There wouldn’t be any changing that. 

Billy changed and slid into bed next to Teddi. He grimaced down at the black teddy bear in her arms, with its red eyes and fanged smile, and wrapped his arm around Teddi’s middle. He pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “Happy Halloween, Teddi.”


End file.
